Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent

Inside British Islam

Innes Bowen

Description

Muslim intellectuals may try to define something called British Islam, but the truth is that as the Muslim community of Britain has grown in size and religiosity, so too has the opportunity to found and run mosques which divide along ethnic and sectarian lines.

Just as most churches in Britain are affiliated to one of the main Christian denominations, the vast majority of Britain's 1600 mosques are linked to wider sectarian networks: the Deobandi and Tablighi Jamaat movements with their origins in colonial India; the Salafi groups inspired by an austere form of Islam widely practiced in Saudi Arabia; the Islamist movements with links to religious political parties in the Middle East and South Asia; the Sufi movements that tend to emphasise spirituality rather than religious and political militancy; and the diverse Shi'ite sects which range from the orthodox disciples of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq to the Ismaili followers of the pragmatic and modernising Aga Khan. These affiliations are usually not apparent to outsiders, but inside Britain's Muslim communities sectarian divides are often fiercely guarded by religious leaders.

This book, of which no equivalent volume yet exists, is a definitive guide to the ideological differences, organisational structures and international links of the main Islamic groups active in Britain today.

Author Information

Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent

Inside British Islam

Innes Bowen

Reviews and Awards

"Innes Bowen, a radio journalist who has studied British Islam for a decade, provides a readable anatomy of the [British] Muslim scene, with all its intricate subdivisions. The spirit is neither hostile to nor defensive of Islam; it offers a nuanced picture reflecting diligent investigation." -- The Economist

"... sober, meticulous and revelatory ... A start for anyone in government should be to read Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent, the fruit of 80 interviews over seven years by a respected editor at the BBC." -- The Guardian

"... a sober and meticulous survey of Muslim thought and practice in Britain. ... thanks to the work of people like Innes Bowen we no longer have any excuse for ignorance." -- David Goodhart, Prospect

"The result of seven years of painstaking research and interviews, Medina in Birmingham, Najaf in Brent is a work as accessible to the casual reader as it will be to policy makers and academics. ... For intra-Muslim understanding the work is a masterpiece of nuance and counteracts the absolutist mentality that has clouded any attempt at understanding others who share the same basic doctrines." -- Huffington Post

"A compelling study ... Bowen has a thorough but lively style, filling her work with probing interviews, useful statistics and colourful tales about the historical origins of each sect. She shows that there is little point trying to discern which grouping brings most risk of violent extremism, since notorious individuals have emerged from different factions." -- The Times

"An admirable and clear-headed study [that] corrects ugly attitudes to Islam in the West. ... Every page is full of essential information, and Bowen opens up a great deal that is mysterious or poorly understood. I urge every commentator and politician who wants to open his or her mouth about British Islam to read this work. This well-written book is a desperately needed antidote to the hare-brained commentary from politicians and writers who ought to know much better." -- Peter Oborne, The Telegraph

" ... the first serious excavation of the religious fault lines which embody the British Muslim experience EL Bowen should be commended." -- The Independent

"The essential guide to Muslim Britain." -- Robert Fox, The Evening Standard

"[Bowen] lays out for the first time in terms accessible to a lay audience something of the inner structures and dynamics of Islam in Britain ... You can't understand today's Britain without reading this." -- Andrew Brown, 'Heroes of 2014: Innes Bowen', The Guardian

"Entering into uncharted territory, navigating to find new approaches to understanding, this book is an important and necessary contribution." -- Ethnic and Racial Studies